Fenerbahce beat Monaco 2-1 at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium in the Champions League 3 Round first-leg clash thanks to a brace from Emmanuel Emenike.
The Yellow Canaries did however, concede a soft goal thanks to a defensive blunder cause by goalkeeper Ertugrul which could prove costly on the away goals rule.
Despite being the better side Fenerbahce left Istanbul with a slender aggregate lead and the mixup that lead to Monaco’s goal highlighted the teams weakness.
The Fenerbahce defence played their first competitive game together last week. Martin Srktel, Neustadter and Kjaer had never previously been in a starting line-up together. The defence will take time to settle but to be honest they were actually put on a pretty solid display and it was the keeper at error for the goal.
Ertugrul is expected to be replaced by Fabiano in goal but Fenerbahce will be without star striker Robin van Persie and Ismail Koybasi.
Van Persie may look like a big miss on paper but if Emmanuel Emenike shows put in anywhere near the same kind of display as he did last week Fenerbahce will be in safe hands.
Emenike was terrific in the first leg using his pace and power to harass the Monaco backline and he ended up scoring a brace on the night. His partner in crime Fernandao did however, look a little sluggish.
The Istanbul giants will be content to protect their lead. Vitor Pereira tends to get his side to play controlled football in away games and they do have pace on the wings with Van der Wiel and Hasan Ali which could threaten Monaco on the break.
Monaco will be without Moutinho and Carvalho but star striker Falcao is fit and looked lively in the first leg.
The French giants did not actually pose Fenerbahce a lot of problems in the first leg which will be a worry for the manager considering his opponents defensive line have not had time to gel yet.
Fenerbahce will welcome back Mehmet Topal whose experience could come in handy for the return leg. The Canaries will fancy their chances against Monaco. Monaco could not deal with Emenike despite their defensive approach in the first half. The Nigerian international has a lot to prove after a disappointing last season and is not in a forgiving mood. If Monaco give the powerful striker more space than they did in the first half they could end up being punished.
Prediction: Fenerbahce Draw No Bet
MONACO-FENERBAHÇE
Stadium: St. Louis
Referee: Artur Dias
Kick-Off: 19:45
Monaco: Subasic, Sidibe, Glik, Raggi, Mendy, Bakayoko, Dirar, Lemar, Fabinho, Germain, Falcao
Manager: Jardim
Fenerbahce: Fabiano, Mehmet Topal, Neustadter, Skrtel, Van der Wiel, Ozan, Salih, Josef, Hasan Ali, Fernandao, Emenike
Manager: Vitor Pereira
